Garment hanger



Oct. 29, 1968 A. c. PATCH GARMENT HANGER Filed may 16. 1966 44 INVENTOR.

. ALBERT C. PAI'OH I 2 a V F ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,407,979GARMENT HANGER Albert C. Patch, Town House, 635 Harrison,

Topeka, Kans. 66603 Filed May 16, 1966, Ser. No. 550,515 1 Claim. (Cl.223-88) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE garment hanger having downwardly andoutwardly inclined arms, each of the arms having a primary supportingedge and at least a pair of spaced collinear secondary supporting edgesspaced below and in approximate parallelism with the primary supportingedge; the spaced collinear secondary garment supporting edges beingdefined by aligned and spaced elongated slots in the arm, with each ofthe slots having its extremities closed and having an entrance slot ofless width than the slot situated at the outermost extremity of theslot, whereby shoulder portions of a garment can be supported on a pairof symmetrically located secondary supporting edges of selectablehorizontal spacing with the closed uppermost or adjacent ends of theassociated slots positively limiting movement of such shoulder portionstoward the center of the hanger while indirectly limiting movement ofsuch portions from the center of the hanger. The arms are smoothly andarcuately inturned downwardly and inwardly to terminate in opposedhorizontal garment sup porting extensions having spaced free ends, andthe arcuate extremities of the arms are provided with upwardly openingslots therein that are inclined downwardly and inwardly foraccommodating widely spaced shoulder straps or the like.

- This invention relates to new and useful improvements in garmenthangers, and more particularly pertains to a garment hanger of generalutility in the hanging of garments and which is especially versatile inreliably supporting ladies garments.

The present invention constitutes an improvement over my Patent No.3,186,609, entitled Garment Hanger, which issued June 1, 1965. Thepresent invention is also related to the disclosure set forth in U.S.Patent No. 2,310,058, entitled Garment Hanger, which issued to Bolten etal., Feb. 2, 1943, and US. Patent No. 1,641,680, also entitled, GarmentHanger, which issued to Kaufman, Sept. 6, 1927. Those familiar with theart are undoubtedly familiar with the disclosures of such patents, andin any event the substances of such disclosures are incorporated hereinby reference.

Despite the greatly varying nature of garment hangers that have beenproposed and which have been placed on the market, there neverthelessremain certain deficiencies especially with regard to properly andreliably supporting various articles of ladies clothing. Although theprior art has proposed many particular constructions for solvingparticular problems, such special solutions have rendered hangersembodying 'such special features relatively unsuited for meetingrequirements other than those for which they are specially adapted.Accordingly, changing styles and/or changing emphasis as to numericalrepresentation of various wardrobe components has either necessitated awoman keeping her closet supplied with an inordinate number of spare andspecial types of hangers to satisfy her needs, or to suffer the equallyintolerable lack of having proper hangers to meet special needs.

It is therefore an important object of this invention to provide agarment hanger having general utility for the hanging of coats, jackets,sweaters, and the like, andyet without impairment of such generalfunction additionally serve to meet such special needs as may beoccasioned by low necked'dresses, shells, sweaters and blouses, eveninggowns, or any article of clothing with long thin shoulder straps.

It is an important object of the present invention to support a garmentin such a manner as to be preservative of the shape of the garment to doso in a manner harmless to the fabric or material of the garment andadditionally to provide a garment affording such a support and fromwhich the garment cannot be readily and inadvertently displaced from itsproperly supported relationship to the hanger.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide a garmenthanger in accordance with the above objects which is not only suited tomeet special garment hanging requirements insofar as the style or formof the garment is concerned, but which will be equally well suited tomeet such special requirements for varying sizes of such garments.

Yet another important object of the invention is to provide a garmenthanger in accordance with the previously stated objects that will beeconomical in manufacture, and durable in use.

Broadly, the invention involves in a garment hanger of the typeincluding an upstanding central portion connecting a pair of oppositelyand outwardly extending arms each having a primary upper garmentsupporting edge that is generally outwardly and downwardly inclined fromthe central portion; the improvement therein of each of said arms havingan elongated slot therethrough that is laterally spaced from the primaryupper edge of such arm, said slot in its elongated dimension beingoutwardly and downwardly inclined from said central portion, with thearm thereby having a secondary upper garment supporting edge definedalong the lower side of the slot that generally parallels and is belowthe primary upper garment supporting edge, said slot being closed at itsends, said arm being provided with an entrance slot therethrough ofsubstantially less width than the length of said elongated slot andwhich extends upwardly from the latter to open through the primary upperedge of the arm, whereby a garment can be suspended with shoulderportions thereof resting on the secondary edges whereupon the closedends of the slots nearest the central portion limit movement of suchshoulder portions toward the central portion of the hanger.

More specifically, the invention as specified in the preceding paragraphmay have the entrance slot disposed either at a position intermediatethe ends of the elongated slot, or at the lower end of the elongatedslot. Optionally, the invention as specified in the preceding paragraphcan additionally involve the primary upper edge of the arm arcingsmoothly downwardly to be substantially vertical at the outermostextremity of the arm, thereby resulting in the primary upper edgeincluding an extent downwardly and outwardly inclined to the vertical atabout 45, and

the arm including a further slot therethrough that extends downwardlyand inwardly from said extent of the primary upper edge of the arm, withsaid further slot having a closed lower end, whereby thin shoulderstraps of garments may be received and reliably secured at widely spacedpositions.

A more limited aspect of the invention involves structure such asspecified in the penultimate paragraph together with an additionalelongated slot, the latter being in alignment with the first mentionedslot and being provided with an entrance slot of its own, whereby theuser may have an option as to which pair of elongated slots to employfor differing sized garments or differing sized neck openings, and thelike.

' An important feature of-theinvention resides in the provision of anelongated slot laterally spaced below an inclined upper edge of thehanger arm, to define an auxiliary or secondary garment supporting edgethat is generally parallel .to the upper supporting edge and like thelatter is downwardly and outwardly inclined from the central portion ofthe hanger. Such downward and outward inclination of the secondary orauxiliary garment supporting edge is very important in that the samewill accommodate and properly support the usual contour of shoulderportions .of a garment. The elongated slot is given access-by anentrance slot opening upwardly therefrom at a position spaced outwardlyfrom the upper end of-the elongated slot. The closed upper end of theinclined upper slots keep the dress neck from sliding up farther on onehanger arm and down and ofi the opposite end of the hanger, as the topof the upward slot on one-arm keeps the dress from falling off on theother end of the hanger. This is the only way to prevent it from fallingoff the hanger, as the size of the garment collar and upwardly inclinedslot on one side keeps the dress from falling off on the other end, asthe distance from the upward slot on one arm keeps the neck of the dressfrom falling ofi on the opposite end.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of adownwardly and inwardly inclined slot in the arm at substantially theoutermost extremity of the latter, whereby thin elements such as thinshoulder straps of evening gowns, ladies slips, and childrens suspenders(as well as loops of cord or narrow strips of cloth which may be fixedat diametrically opposed positions within the waist of skirts) can besupported at widely spaced positions. Loops of about three inches lengthwill enable skirts of about size 25 inches to 40 inches to be hungproperly and securely from a standard size hanger by virtue of theprovision of such further slots. 4 Other objects, aspects, features andadvantages of the present invention will become apparent during theensuing description of preferred embodiments of the invention when takenin conjunction with the accompanying draw ings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the garment hanger of thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken upon the plane of thesection line 22 in FIGURE 1, this view illustrating the peripherallythickened structure of the hanger arm;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of another embodim'ent of thehanger; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of another embodiment ofthe hanger arm construction.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate likeparts throughout the various views, and initially directing attention tothe embodiment of the invention shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the referencenumeral designates the hanger generally. The hanger 10 is comprised of acentral portion 12 which connects symmetrical arm structures 14 and 16.The arm construetions 14 and 16 have a plane of symmetry that isvertical and perpendicular to the plane of the side elevational viewshown in FIGURE 1. Accordingly, a detailed description of the armconstruction 14 will suffice for both the arm constructions 14 and 16.

The central portion 12 of the hanger 10 is provided with an opening 18therethrough, and a vertical opening 20 extends from the top of thecentral portion 12 vertically to intersect or open into the opening 18,and if desired the opening 20 can extend downwardly from the opening 18asshown in FIGURE 1. A heavy gauge metal wire or rod extends downwardlyinto the opening 20 and is journaled for rotation therein, with upwardwithdrawal of the rod 22 from the opening 20 being prevented by means ofan enlargement 24 being fixed or carried upon the rod 22. Theenlargement 24 is; disposed Within the opening 18 and has an outsidediameter larger than the diameter of the opening 20. If desired, the rod22 can be threaded and the enlargement 24 be in the form of a nutthreaded on the rod 22, whereby the nut 24 can be threadingly movedalong the extent of the rod 22 so as to enable adjustment of the extentto which the rod 22 can be extended above. the central portion 12 of thehanger. It will be noted that the siz e o f the opening 18 is such' asto permit finger access. to the nut 24 for manipulating the latter.Theupper end of the wire or rod 22 is formed or bent in the shape of ahook 26, whereby the hanger 10 may be supported up on a clothes rod, notshown, or the like, in a closet. As will be appreciated, the rod 22 willnot require any more thanoccasional turning of less than one fullrevolution, and in any event will be subjected to radial loads againstthe central por-1 tion 12, and therefore no harm will result fromthreaded portions of the rod 22 being caused to turn in the-opening 20.

In the illustrated and preferred construction of the hanger 10,thecentral portion 12 thereof and the arm constructions 14 and 16 areintegral and molded from any suitable synthetic resin of the typesconventionally used in the art such as, for example, nylon,polyethylene, polystyrene, and the like. Furthermore, the centralportion 12 and the arm constructions 14 and 16 constitute a generallyflat body, and are symmetrical with respect to a medial plane parallelto the plane of the view shown in FIGURE 1.

.-As readily apparent upon inspection of FIGURE 1, the top of thecentral portion is smoothly rounded as indicated at 27 and the upperperiphery thereof smoothly merges through a point or region ofinflection 28 with a generally outwardly and downwardly inclined upperedge 30 of the arm construction 1.4. The arm construction 14 includes anarm proper 32 and an inward arm extension 34, and the overall smoothdownward and outward curvature of the upper edge 30 of the arm 32 isextended to the outerend 36 of the arm 32 and thence smoothly curves orarcs thereabout to merge with the bottom edge 38 of the inward armextension 34 and such edge 38 thence extending to the, free inner end 40of the arm extension 34.

The underside of the central portion 12, the arm 32, and the symmetricalcounterpart 42 of the latter is defined by a smooth and shallow invertedV-shaped edge 44 as clearly apparent in FIGURE 1. The opposite ends ofthe edge 44 smoothly merge by way of arcuate edges 46 and 48 with thestraight upper edge 50 of the arm extension 34, and with the straightupper edge 52 of the symmetrical counterpart 54 of the extension 34. Theinward extensions 34. and 54 are horizontal and extend towards eachother terminating in spacedrelationship as shown, and their adjacentfree ends are each provided with upstanding lugs or projectionsindicated at 56 and 58.

Referring again to the upper edge 30 of the arm 32,.it will be notedthat the same includes portions 60, 62 and 64, such portions of theupper edge 30 as stated previously lying along a downwardly andoutwardly inclined line, such line being conformable to a smooth contoursuch as is conventional in garment supporting hangers, and it will beapparent that as thus fardescribed the upper edge 30 including theportions 60, 62 and 64 jointly will serve in the normal function ofsupporting garments such ascoats, jackets, sweaters, and the like. Atpositions laterally spaced below the line defined by the upper edgeportions 60, 62 and 64, the arm 32 is provided with ali ned elongatedsiots 66 and 68, such elongated slots 66 and 68 being generally parallelto the primary upper garment'supporting edges 60, 62 and 64 and the linedefined generally by suchupper edges. The arrangement is such thatsecondary or auxiliary upper garment supporting edges 70 and 72' aredefined along the lower or bottom sides of the slots 66 and 68, and itwill be noted that such secondary upper'garment supporting edges 70 and12 are outwardly and downwardly inclined, and at' least in part directlyunderlie the primary upper garment supporting edges 60 and 62.Additionally, it is to be noted that the upper ends, that is, the endsof the slots 68 and 80 nearest the central portion 12 of the hanger 10,are closed as indicated at 76 and 80. The entranceslot 76 is spacedoutwardly that is spaced from the closed end 80 and which is disposed atthe end of the slot 68 remote from the central portion 12. As in thecase of the entrance slot 74, the entrance slot 84 has the edge thereofremote from the central portion 12 defined by an upwardly and outwardlyinclined edge 86.

The use and advantages flowing from the provision of the secondary orauxiliary garment supporting edges 70 and 72 and their counterparts inthe arm construction 16 will'be quickly understood. Ordinarily, low cutdresses present considerable difliculty in hanging on conventionalhangers in that either one or both of the shoulder portions will slipoff the free ends of the arms. Assuming that the spacing of the shoulderstraps of a low cut dress is such as to conform to the spacing of theslot 66 and its symmetrical, counterpart of the arm construction 16,such shoulder straps are slipped into such slots through theirrespective entrance slots into a position such as to rest upon thedownwardly and outwardly inclined secondary supporting surfaces 70, itbeing particularly important to note that at this point the sloping ofsuch edges conforms to the usual contour of such straps as the latter ofcourse are tailored to conform to the natural downwardly and outwardlysloping shoulders of the wearer. This point is particularly important inthat supporting stresses are thereby applied to the shoulder straps ofthe supported garment in a distributed fashion so as to minimize andusually avoid entirely any distortion or wrinkling of the shoulderstraps, and additionally there is little, if any, tendency for theshoulder straps to either slide inwardly or outwardly upon suchsecondary supporting surfaces 70.

When resting in the manner described above on the secondary garmentsupporting edges or surfaces 70, any tendency of the shoulder portionsof the garment to slip over the free ends of the arms 32 and 42 issubstantially lessened by the inclination of the sides 82 of theentrance slots 74, such as might otherwise all too readily occurwhenever the garment and/ or the hanger is subsequently jostledinadvertently during placement or removal of other wardrobe articles inthe closet.

Augmenting the function of the entrance slots 74 in preventinginadvertent dislodgment of garment shoulder portions from the hanger isthe fact that ordinarily dislodgment of one shoulder portion of agarment from the hanger 10 is accompanied by or must necessarily beaccompanied by the other shoulder portion moving inwardly towards thecentral portion 12 of the hanger. In the use of the hanger 10, suchinward movement of a shoulder portion supported on the secondary surfaceor edge 70 is positively prevented by the closed ends 76 of the slots66. This latter function will be positive when the garment is a lownecked dress and the yoke of the dress has an extent along its edgeconnecting between such shoulder portions that is approximately equal tothe spacing of the closed ends 76 of the slots 66. This is mostimportant and is the direct result of the fact that outward movement ofone shoulder portion cannot ,occur without an inward movement of theother shoulder portion, and of course the latter is positively preventedby the closed end 76 of the slot 66.

The use of the secondary downwardly and outwardly inclined garmentsupporting surfaces or edges 72 is perfectly analogous to the previouslydescribed supporting surfaces or edges 70, and the provision of suchadditional secondary supporting surfaces or edges 72 enables the user toaccommodate differently styled or sized dresses to a single standardsized hanger 10. Thus, the user need not supply two separate hangers soas to have available the dilferent amount of spacings as alforded by theedges and the edges 72. i

As thus far described, the hanger 10 will serve not only the generallysupporting function of hangers for supporting jackets and the like (itbeing observed that the enentrance slots 74 and 84 do not interfere withsuch utilization of the hanger), and the hanger 10 can be employed toextraordinary advantage in the support of low necked dresses, andespecially low necked dresses having a reasonably high yoke.

The utilization of the inwardly directed arm extensions 34 and 54 withtheir upstanding projections 56 and '58 are well known in the art andneed not herein be elaborated. Preferably the hanger 10 does includesuch extensions 34 and '54 as they are particularly compatible with theremainder of the hanger 10 and do not contribute substantially to theoverall height or amount of material included in the hanger 10. Ifdesired, the inward'extensions 34 and 54 may be entirely omitted'and theouter ends of the arms 32 and 42 rounded and smoothly contoured aboutthe regions of juncture of such extensions with the arms 32 and 42, aswill be appreciated. V The hanger 10 includes yet another optional, buthighly desirable, provision, namely, the provision of a downwardly andinwardly inclined slot closely adjacent the free end 36 of the arm 32,it being understood that a counterpart provision is included as shown inthe arm construction 16. The downwardly and inwardly inclined slot isprovided in the arm 32 at a position where'the edge 30 is inclineddownwardly andoutwardly approximately five degrees in the course of itscurvature down towards the vertical at the free end 36 of the arm 32.Such positioning has been found particularly advantageous in that itenables placement of the slot 90 as well as the closed lower end 92thereof very near the outermost extremity of the arm 32, and yet doesnot offer any substantial interference by way of snagging or thelike inthe insertion of the arm 32 into garments to be supported thereby.

The slots 90 are most useful in that they provide widely spacedpositions for supporting thin shoulder straps such as in ladies slipsand evening gowns, and additionally, have proved quite advantageous inthe support of trousers by way of suspenders attached thereto. It willbe quite clear to those familiar with the art that the rather steepdownward and inward inclination of the, slots substantially precludesinadvertent dislodgment of garments supported in the slots 90. The slot90 can be used to hold ladies skirts as by sewing a cord or narrow pieceof cloth on the inside of the waist or belt line with the cord or clothbeing placed in slots 90 on each end of the hanger. If such a cord orstrip of cloth, not shown, is fastened at each end and of about 3 inchesin length .it will hold a skirt in sizes from 25 inches to 40 or moreinches by leaving the zipper open on the small skirt in back for size,as the three inch length of the cord sewed belt wise gives six incheslarger in size of belt for small skirts.

As mentioned previously, it is preferred that the'central portion 12 andthe arm construction 14 and 16 of the hanger 10 be molded from a plasticmaterial. In the twofold interest of providing a structure of minimumweight for needed strength, and for presenting broad peripheral edgesfor engagement with garments (to prevent creasing of supportedgarmentsand to distribute stresses applied thereto), the entire outerperiphery of the central portion 12 and the arm constructions 14 and 16are relatively thickened as suggested in the sectional view shown inFIGURE 2, wherein the reference numerals 84 and 96 respectively indicatethickened upper and lower peripheral portions of the hanger with thereference numeral 98 indicating an intervening web of relatively lessthickness. In the preferred construction, such inward arm extensions 34and 54 are of minimal vertical extent, such extensions are preferablythickened throughout their vertical extent as shown.

The inwardly extending arms 34 and 54 at the bottom of the hanger arevery useful for supporting evening gowns or sleeveless dresses with wideshoulder straps.

Attention is now directed to the embodiment of the invention shown inFIGURE 3. This embodiment of the invention is designated generally bythe reference numeral 100, and the hanger 100 is identical to thepreviously described embodiment of the invention in all respects, savethose hereinafter specifically mentioned. In short, the hanger 100includes a hook structure 102 generally corresponding to the hook 26, acentral portion 104 corresponding to the previously described centralportion 12, arms 106 and 108, and arm extensions 110 and 112 thatcorrespond to the previously described arm extensions 34 and 54,respectively. The arms 106 and 108 include slots 114 and 116 thatcorrespond structurally and functionally to the previously describedslots 90.

The sole point of departure of the hanger 100 from the hanger 10 residesin a dilfering slot arrangement from that provided in the upper side ofthe arms of the hanger 10. Specifically, the arm 106 has a smoothdownwardly and outwardly inclined upper edge defined by portions 118,120, and 122. As in the case of the garment 10, the arms 106 and 108 ofthe hanger 100 are symmetrical and a detailed description of the arm 106will sufiice for both. A pair of elongated and aligned slots 124 and 126are provided in the arm 106 that are spaced laterally from the primarysupporting edge constituted of the edge or surface portions 118, 120 and122, and the arm includes downwardly and outwardly inclined secondarysupporting surfaces 128 and 130 at the bottom sides of the slots 124 and126. The slot 124 is provided with an entrance slot 132 having anupwardly and outwardly inclined edge 134 at the lower end of the slot124. Generally speaking, the slots 124 and 132 are analogous to thepreviously described slots 66 and 74, and the secondary supporting edgeor surface 128 is analogous to the previously described supportingsurface or edge 70. In contrast with the position of the entrance slot84 with respect to the slot 68 of the hanger 10, the slot 126 of thehanger 100 is provided with an entrance slot 140 that is intermediateand spaced from the closed opposite ends 142 and 144 of the slot 126.Therein resides the principal distinction existing between the hanger100 and the hanger 10. When the shoulder portion of a garment isintroduced into the slot 126 through the entrance slot 140 and arrangedto rest upon the downwardly and outwardly inclined supporting surface oredge 130, and even more positive prevention of such shoulder portionfrom slipping over the free end of the arm 106 is obtained as the closedend 142 of the slot 126 constitutes a positive stop, and indeed ifdesired the entrance slot 140 may be made sufi'lciently narrow that bothinsertion and removal of the shoulder portion from the slot 126virtually requires conscientious effort and inadvertent dislodgment isvirtually impossible or at least rendered quite improbable. Suchpositive assurance is of course at all times quite desirable, and may benecessary when a garment is to be suspended within a large trunk or thelike which may be upended during transit.

Further elaboration upon the use and advantages of the hanger 100 isdeemed unnecessary in the light of the preceding description of thestructure and use of the hanger 10. It will of course be noted that thehanger 100, as in the case of the hanger 10, has the peripheral edgesthereof of relatively greater thickness, as is the entire verticalextent of the inward extensions 110 and 112.

Passing now to consideration of FIGURE 4 wherein yet another embodimentof the invention is illustrated, the reference numeral 150 designates ahanger arm generally similar to the hanger arm 32 previously describedin connection with FIGURE 1. The hanger arm 150 is identical to thehanger arm 32 with the sole exception that the hanger arm 150 includesthree elongated slots 152, 154 and 156, rather than the two 66 and 68with which the arm 32 is provided, and this embodiment of the inventionis disclosed in order to make it abundantly clear that as many of suchslots may be employed along the extent of an arm as may desired. Indeed,the provision of such slots may be provided throughout substantially theentire extent of an arm should such be deemed necessary or expedient. Asin the case of the previously described embodiments of the invention,the arm 150 has downwardly and outwardly inclined secondary garmentsupporting surfaces or edges 158, 160 and 162 that are generallyparallel to and spaced below the primary upper garment supportingsurfaces or edges 164, 166 and 168. Each of the slots 152, 154 and 156is provided at its lower end with entrance slots 170, 172 and 174,respectively, with the edges of such slots remote from the upper end ofthe arm being preferably, as shown, upwardly and outwardly inclined.Whereas it is highly preferred and deemed virtually necessary from thestandpoint of strength considerations that the entrance slots for allsave the lowermost elongated slot be provided at the lowermost end ofthe elongated slot, it should be noted with respect to the embodiment ofthe invention shown in FIGURE 4 that the entrance slot 174 could (thoughnot so shown) be disposed at a position intermediate and spaced from theclosed opposite ends of the slot 156 in a manner analogous to thepositioning of the entrance slot with respect to the slot 126 in FIGURE3.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that such hanger asformed in part by the arm includes an arm, ,not shown, that issymmetrical to the illustrated arm 150.

The use of the embodiment of the invention in FIG- URE 4 will be readilycomprehended in view of the previous descriptions of the use of thehangers 10 and 100, the only distinction of the use of the embodimentshown in FIGURE 4 from that shown in FIGURE 1 is that the former affordsa greater selection as to the spacings of the slots to be employed inthe engagement therewith of garment shoulder portions.

From the foregoing, it will be clear that in essence the structuralfeatures and greatest advantages of the present invention flow from theperipheral configuration of the hanger; especially such peripheralconfigurations existing about the slots and the upper edges of thehanger arms, and accordingly, it is contemplated and deemed within thescope of the invention to form a hanger of wire bent so as to define theperipheral configuration of the upper edges of the arms and the slotstherein. The illustrated and described embodiments of the invention aresusceptible to such modification as well as other variations in detailwithout departing from the scope of the invention, and accordingly,attention is directed to the appended claim in order to ascertain theactual scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. In a garment hanger of the type including an upstanding centralportion connecting a pair of oppositely and outwardly extendingsymmetrical arms each having a primary upper garment supporting edgethat is generally outwardly and downwardly inclined from the centralportion; the improvement therein of each of said arms having a pair ofelongated slots therethrough that are vertically spaced from the primaryupper edge of the arm in approximately parallelism therewith, said pairof slots being spaced and in approximate alignment with each other, eachof said slots in its elongated dimension being outwardly and downwardlyinclined from said central portion, with the arm thereby havingsubstantially collinear secondary upper garment supporting edges definedalong the lower sides of the slots that generally parallel and are belowthe primary upper garment supporting edge, each of said slots beingclosed at its longitudinal extremities, said arm in respectiveassociation with each of said slots being provided with an entrance slottherethrough of substantially less width than the length of saidelongated slot respectively associated therewith and which extendsupwardly from the lowermost extremity of the latter to open through theprimary upper edge of the arm, said arms having outer ends curveddownwardly and inwardly and terminating in opposed horizontallyextending arms with spaced free end extremities, said spaced free endextremities having upstanding lugs, said curved outer ends of said armshaving a slot therethrough extending downwardly and inwardly, and hookmeans rotatahly supported by said central portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Charak 22395 XR Coon 223-88 XRLausch 223--92 Jacob 22392 Treiman 223-92 Rosen 223-92 JORDAN FRANKLIN,Primary Examiner.

G. H. K=RIZMANICH, Assistant Examiner.

